View source for Valeri Popenchenko

{{Short description|Soviet boxer (1937–1975)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| image = Valeri Popenchenko, Tadeusz Walasek, Franco Valle 1964.jpg
| caption = Popenchenko (left) at the 1964 Olympics
| full_name = Valeri Vladimirovich Popenchenko
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|8|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Moscow|Kuntsevo]], [[Moscow Oblast]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|2|15|1937|8|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Moscow]], Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| height = {{convert|1.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight = {{convert|75|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| sport = Boxing
| club = [[Dynamo (sports society)|Dynamo Leningrad]]
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|the {{URS}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Boxing at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo]] | [[Boxing at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Middleweight|Middleweight]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Amateur Boxing Championships|European Amateur Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1963 European Amateur Boxing Championships|1963 Moscow]] | Middleweight}}
{{MedalGold| [[1965 European Amateur Boxing Championships|1965 Berlin]] | Middleweight}}
}}

'''Valeri Vladimirovich Popenchenko''' ({{langx|ru|Валерий Владимирович Попенченко}}, 26 August 1937 – 15 February 1975) was a Soviet Olympic boxer who competed in the [[middleweight]] division (−75&nbsp;kg). During his career he won 200 out of 213 bouts; he won an Olympic gold medal in 1964 and European titles in 1963 and 1965. He was named the Outstanding Boxer of the 1964 Olympics and given the [[List of Val Barker Trophy winners|Val Barker Trophy]], becoming the only Soviet boxer to receive the honour.<ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Valery Popenchenko |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/po/valery-popenchenko-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203201224/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/po/valery-popenchenko-1.html |archive-date=3 December 2016}}</ref> Popenchenko was known for his exceptional skills and agility in the ring, as well as his strong left hook.

==Biography==
Popenchenko took boxing in 1948, and in 1959 won his first Soviet title. He finished third in 1960, but reclaimed the title in 1961 through 1965. He retired in 1965 and was awarded the [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]].<ref>{{cite book |title=All about Olympic Games. |author=Boris Khavin |publisher=[[Fizkultura i sport (publisher)|Fizkultura i sport]] |edition=2nd |pages=572 |year=1979 |location=Moscow |language=Russian}}</ref> In 1968, he graduated from the Leningrad Military Higher School of the Border Service, and from 1970 until his death worked as a head of physical culture department of the [[Bauman Moscow State Technical University]]. In the mid 1970s the university was building new sporting facilities, and as department head Popenchenko would often visit the construction site. On 15 February 1975, while running down the stairs where handrails were not yet installed, he lost his balance, fell three floors and died. He was buried at [[Vvedenskoye Cemetery]].<ref name=sr/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peoples.ru/sport/boxer/popenchenko/ |title=Валерий Попенченко |website=peoples.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

==1964 Olympic results==
Below are the results from the 1964 Tokyo Olympic boxing tournament of Valeri Popenchenko of the Soviet Union who competed in the middleweight division:

* Round of 32: bye
* Round of 16: defeated Sutan Mahmud (Pakistan) referee stopped contest
* Quarterfinal: defeated Joe Darkey (Ghana) by decision, 5-0
* Semifinal: defeated Tadeusz Walasek (Poland) by knockout
* Final: defeated Emil Schulz (United Team of Germany) referee stopped contest (gold medal)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{BoxRec|name=Valeri Popenchenko}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|name=Valeri Popenchenko}}
* {{Olympedia|name=Valery Popenchenko}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927232349/http://databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=POPENVAL01 Valery Popenchenko at databaseOlympics.com]
* [http://slovari.yandex.ru/dict/olympic/article/olymp/ol21/ol2-0705.htm Profile in the Olympic Encyclopedia]{{dead link|date=July 2023}} {{in lang|ru}}
* [http://www.peoples.ru/sport/boxer/popenchenko/ Biography] {{in lang|ru}}

{{Val Barker Trophy winners}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Boxing Middleweight}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popenchenko, Valeri}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:Martial artists from Moscow Oblast]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Bauman Moscow State Technical University]]
[[Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members]]
[[Category:Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic boxers for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in boxing]]
[[Category:Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]]
[[Category:Middleweight boxers]]
[[Category:Russian male boxers]]
[[Category:Soviet male boxers]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths from falls]]
[[Category:Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian sportsmen]]


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